Searching For A Former Clarity

It's nearly Christmas, which means it's nearly New Year, which means it's nearly time to make a whole load of resolutions that I won't keep and that I'll re-read later and feel shitty about. Well how about cleaning the slate first? The main purpose of this whole thing was so that I could vent and whine and bitch and not feel like I'm burdening anyone. And to spread the wealth of any music I happened to have encountered along the way. If you're an Against Me! fan you already know that they're the subject of this one judging from the title.

NOTE: This entry was edited on March 21. I don't care enough to be angry with those people anymore, so I'm just forgetting it. :)

Now, Tom Gabel is a fucking genius. I love how he thinks, talks, sings, plays and writes.
I first heard Against Me! when I got hooked on Tegan and Sara. Yeah, you may have guessed this means I'm late to the game, but you can feel all superior and happy with yourself now.. shortly before New Wave came out, AM! were on T&S's top friends on Myspace. I checked them out, the first song I heard was Thrash Unreal.. and, well.. that was it. I bought New Wave and listened to it inside out. A few weeks later I met a guy I'd already met at a Rise Against gig, and he asked me (I'm guessing on the off chance.. he couldn't have known) if I was going to see AM! in a few weeks time. I hadn't known they were playing and of course I went.. and had one of those amazing moments where.. you thought you really liked a band before.. but then you see them live.. and it's special. I had to own everything they'd released. I don't know if I have favourite album.. because every time I think I settle on one I realise a song I adore is on another one. I'm aware of the whole "sell out" thing, and I get why so many people were upset that a band so full of integrity went back on their word.. but, as the old cliché[Guevara?..no] goes, there's more important things in the world like war and famine. And Tom Gabel would probably be the first to tell you that too.
I guess if I really had to pick an album it would be Searching For A Former Clarity. After AM! moved to Fat Wreck they encountered this "sell out" argument. [so yeah, nothing original there, New Wavers]. Weighing heavily on their song themes is public perception, the pressure of pleasing the fans and the strain of staying together. The title track is heart-wrenching in its undestated simplicity.. from Tom's voice to the beating drum to the intermittent strums. The song tells a story and the lyrics shine through. Also buried on this one are gems like Justin, Joy[some of Gabel's most beautiful lyrics], Pretty Girls, Don't Lose Touch and Even At Our Worst We're Still Better Than Most [which has my favourite closing segment.. apart from Violence, that is]. Even if you think Against Me! have "sold out", don't be an ass and deprive yourself of their earlier stuff. It's pure gold.
I would leave you with some lyrics , but I think this blog is long enough... ah go on then.. here's some"Joy"

All's quiet, except for this song.
So maybe while I'm not together I can feel like I'm not alone.
And somewhere off in the distance, rapidly advancing,
is an onslaught of sorts.
Young sirens wail in a skewed sense of glory.
And the lions in the cages roar at the memory of fight.

And there's a joy, a joy in all I can see.
A joy, in every possibility.